October 30, 2012
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - The Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology ended Bluffton's bid for a fifth consecutive berth in the Heartland Conference semifinals when the Engineers wrapped up a straight-set victory on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012. Rose advances to play #2 seed Transylvania University at Mount St. Joseph on Saturday, Nov. 3. The Beavers finished their 2012 season with a solid 17-14 record.
The first set went back-and-forth with neither squad able to open more than a two-point lead after being tied 12-12. Nine Bluffton hitting errors in the opener allowed RHIT to take set number one. The Engineers opened a commanding 20-7 advantage in the second set. Bluffton rallied with 10 of the next 12 points, but it was too little, too late as Rose held on for a 25-19 win. The home team used a 10-1 jag midway through the final set to power the Engineers to another 26-24 victory despite five kills from freshman Kendra Parmenter (Grove City) and four Heather Schierer (Crescent Spring, Ky./St. Henry) spikes.
Parmenter (.379 hitting percentage) and Schierer led the Bluffton front line with 14 and 10 kills, respectively. Freshman middle Jenny Brown (St. Marys/Memorial) was again sensational, pounding seven kills with just one error for a .462 hitting percentage. Setting up the Bluffton spikers was freshman Mackenzie Lauber (Mansfield/Madison) who tallied 34 assists.
Schierer picked up a team-high 12 digs for her fifth career double-double number in her final outing as a Beaver. Lauber just missed out on a double-double with nine digs, while juniors Lindsay Krohn (Marysville, Ind./New Washington) and Hailey Phillips (Malinta/Patrick Henry) chipped in with eight and seven digs, respectively. Krohn and Lauber both served up a pair of aces. Senior Brooke Distel (Carey) finished her final match with two block assists and five kills.
The Beavers struggled to keep the ball in play, tallying 20 hitting errors compared to just nine for the home team. Rose put together a .292 hitting percentage, over 100 points higher than Bluffton (.183 hitting). The visitors picked up seven more digs (48-41) and both teams fired five aces.
Bluffton had its string of four straight conference semifinals appearances snapped by the same Rose-Hulman team that knocked the Beavers off in the 2011 Heartland Conference finals.
-BEAVERS-